Name Abdulla Alsuwaidi I TA 160 "Uncle Vanya" “Man has been endowed with reason, with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been given. But up to now, he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer. Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up, wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined, and the land grows poorer and uglier” The play “Uncle Vanya” written by Anton Chekhov is a pearl of the classics of Russian literature. Anton Chekhov left a great legacy in a form of his plays and short stories for the classics of world literature. Without a shadow of doubt, this masterpiece, written by one of the most prominent the Russian playwrights of his time, should be read with further analysis and discussion. “Uncle Vanya” is a realist play and Chekhov tried to make its scenes as true-to-life as possible. Chekhov spent one year writing “Uncle Vanya” and introduced a number of changes between the years 1896 – 1897. The final version of his play is famous worldwide. The plot of the play narrates a heartbreaking story of how the main hero, Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky or Uncle Vanya that was a rather calm and quiet man undergoes a moral “rebirth” developing a spirit of a rebellion. Uncle Vanya, the main hero of the play, can be characterized as a bitter aging man who spent his life in toil working for his brother-in-law. Chekhov depicted the character of uncle Vanya as a misanthrope who recognized the miserable nature of other characters. Moreover, Chekhov’s play also involves a number of other important issues that are experienced by the play’s characters. These issues include the feeling of pointless life lacking meaning, missed opportunities, and the most touching feeling of blind admiration. It should be admitted that Chekhov used to create hidden meaning in his plays to make the readers think critically not only of his work but of their lives either. Therefore, in the play, Chekhov made every character individualistic. For instance, the central character in the play, Uncle Vanya, cares about patrimony and the Serebryakov’s family’s property. Throughout the play, uncle Vanya finds himself dismissed and rejected without the right for an opinion. Chekhov also pointed out the suffering of other characters who struggle to change their lives for better. The play consists of a number of personal dramas that are interconnected. It can be stated that Chekhov included a number of opposite lines in his play such as the choice between obedience or riot, feeling of admiration and disrespect. The following lines from the play demonstrate the feeling of disappointment and understanding the pointlessness of a situation: “”I’m mad — but people who conceal their utter lack of talent, their dullness, their complete heartlessness under the guise of the professor, the purveyor of learned magic — they aren’t mad” (Uncle Vanya). Uncle Vanya is concerned about the wasted years and the thought of how his life could look like in case he used the opportun ...

1. Name Abdulla Alsuwaidi
I
TA 160
"Uncle Vanya"
“Man has been endowed with reason,
with the power to create, so that he can add to what he's been
given.
But up to now, he hasn't been a creator, only a destroyer.
Forests keep disappearing, rivers dry up,
wild life's become extinct, the climate's ruined,
and the land grows poorer and uglier”
The play “Uncle Vanya” written by Anton Chekhov is a pearl of
the classics of Russian literature. Anton Chekhov left a great
legacy in a form of his plays and short stories for the classics of
world literature. Without a shadow of doubt, this masterpiece,
written by one of the most prominent the Russian playwrights of
his time, should be read with further analysis and discussion.
“Uncle Vanya” is a realist play and Chekhov tried to make its
scenes as true-to-life as possible. Chekhov spent one year
writing “Uncle Vanya” and introduced a number of changes
between the years 1896 – 1897. The final version of his play is
famous worldwide. The plot of the play narrates a heartbreaking
story of how the main hero, Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky or Uncle
Vanya that was a rather calm and quiet man undergoes a moral
“rebirth” developing a spirit of a rebellion. Uncle Vanya, the
main hero of the play, can be characterized as a bitter aging
man who spent his life in toil working for his brother-in-law.
Chekhov depicted the character of uncle Vanya as a
misanthrope who recognized the miserable nature of other
characters.
Moreover, Chekhov’s play also involves a number of other
important issues that are experienced by the play’s characters.

2. These issues include the feeling of pointless life lacking
meaning, missed opportunities, and the most touching feeling of
blind admiration. It should be admitted that Chekhov used to
create hidden meaning in his plays to make the readers think
critically not only of his work but of their lives either.
Therefore, in the play, Chekhov made every character
individualistic. For instance, the central character in the play,
Uncle Vanya, cares about patrimony and the Serebryakov’s
family’s property. Throughout the play, uncle Vanya finds
himself dismissed and rejected without the right for an opinion.
Chekhov also pointed out the suffering of other characters who
struggle to change their lives for better. The play consists of a
number of personal dramas that are interconnected.
It can be stated that Chekhov included a number of opposite
lines in his play such as the choice between obedience or riot,
feeling of admiration and disrespect. The following lines from
the play demonstrate the feeling of disappointment and
understanding the pointlessness of a situation: “”I’m mad — but
people who conceal their utter lack of talent, their dullness,
their complete heartlessness under the guise of the professor,
the purveyor of learned magic — they aren’t mad” (Uncle
Vanya). Uncle Vanya is concerned about the wasted years and
the thought of how his life could look like in case he used the
opportunities he had. Vanya tries to figure out whether he has a
chance to break the chains of Serebryakov family bondage. He
also blindly admires professor's wife, Yelena. Yelena knows
about Vanya’s obsession and believes it has a destructive nature
for Vanya’s good character. In the third act of the play, uncle
Vanya experiences humiliations, the first as he witnesses
Yelena being nearly seduced by Astrov, and the second as he
misses foe at point blank range. The frustration of Voynitsky
increases after he realizes that Yelena will never be with him.
The understanding of this fact leads to an inner feeling of a
misery.
Therefore, it can be stated that Chekhov portrayed Ivan
Petrovich Voynitsky as rather a pathetically broken person than

3. a tragic hero. In the fourth act, uncle Vanya has nothing falling
into a deep depression. In order to distract oneself from the
misery he appeared in, Voynitsky decides to turn back to his
drudgery. During this period of time, this character in on the
threshold of madness keeping dreaming about the life he could
have. Uncle Vanya did not find a solace in any person including
his old mother, Dr, Astrov, and his niece Sonya.
The main conflict in the play origins from the decision of the
head of the family to sell the family property. Since uncle
Vanya worked hard for the patrimony, he recognized his
inability to change the course of events. All characters in the
play have their own problems concerning the issue. All of them
are depicted as individuals suffering from seven sins ruining
them from the inside. One family meeting that is regularly held
became a scandal. Each family member began to understand
their inner problems that lead to self-destruction.
Given these points, it can be concluded that Chekhov’s play is
based on the suffering of the characters that makes this
masterpiece especially interesting. For example, one character
is portrayed as a person observing how daily routine influences
intelligence and wittiness transforming it into the feeling of
arrogance and triviality. The aforementioned statement is
reflected in the following words: “One hundred years from now,
the people who come after us, for whom our lives are showing
the way--will they think of us kindly? Will they remember us
with a kind word? I wish to God I could think so” (Uncle
Vanya). Chekhov portrayed his characters in the play as
persons willing to change their lives; however, the lack
aspiration becomes an obstacle on their way. The characters
recognize that they should act instead of talking, but fail to go
further their empty words creating a drama in the play. Chekhov
incorporated simple life issues into his drama. The playwright
tried to explain that honesty and hard-working are virtues that
suggest about person’s morality. Only such person deserves to
be awarded and respected. Furthermore, Chekhov’s play shows
that the intelligence and beauty do not make a person virtuous

4. by themselves. Hence, a person should constantly work on self-
development revealing own personality that would allow
breaking the chains. To conclude, the play “Uncle Vanya”
written by Anton Chekhov is a masterpiece of Russian literature
offering its audience a world filled with man’s sins.
Undeniably, the author succeeds to portray the emotions of each
character as they suffer, admire, or thing about their own
misery. It can be stated that the play has also an educational
nature since after reading this work, a person is likely to think
about own life with its achievements, dreams, and values. Anton
Chekhov created a play that succeeds to reach the minds of the
audience explaining that every decision people make may have
a tremendous impact on their lives in future. Once should act so
that in future he/she would not regret.
Abdulla Al suwaidi
TA 160
‘The Everyman Play’
The play dubbed ‘Everyman’ has an interesting story line that
underscores the constant struggles in human life. The play was
first written in 1508, and it reflects the unchanging nature of
humans (Orr 33). Since the beginning of time, human beings
have had a constant fight between doing good and evil. Ideally,
evil and good actions represent different values and have
evident consequences. Accordingly, every action in this world
will have a subsequent result that will affect the next life or
circumstance. This is the guiding principle in the ‘Everyman’
play as it underscores the repercussions of undertaking either
good or evil actions (Orr 35). For example, one of the
characters experiences great unkindness from all the creatures
around him. The character explains how people are living
fearlessly enjoying worldly pleasures. They are intoxicated with
sin and do not even care to know their God. The human beings
are only focused on acquiring worldly possessions at the
expense of their morality. The people are filled with greed for

5. earthly things that they do not fear God’s punishment. They no
longer care about being righteous and are not afraid that God is
watching them. They have already forgotten that on this earth,
every decision and action has a good or bitter result (Orr 38).
This play seeks to underscore the equilibrium between evil and
good on earth. It underscores that punishment is inevitable for
any wrongful act whether in this life or the next. The play
underpins the constructs of fighting good and evil, and life and
death. Research indicates that human beings often opt to follow
both good and evil. The promise of experiencing a blessed
future does limit this tendency (Orr 42). Additionally, human
nature is to error thus the constant appeal to try out the
prohibited things in the world. This is greatly attributed to the
morally weak nature of most individuals. However, this does
not rule out the fact that sometimes, the human beings triumph
over their desire to commit evil.
Through religion by having blessed sacraments that are
benevolent and unadulterated, the human being can be saved
from sin. God has the capacity to eliminate the sinful nature of
man through acceptance and repenting. God in His everlasting
kindness is gracious and kind to the human kind. The play
underscores the temporary nature of human beings in this world
as they are sojourners. It underpins the seven covenants that
human beings who believe in God and goodness should follow.
These include baptism, penance, marriage, priesthood, extreme
holy ointment, the Holy Communion and high divinity (Orr 45).
The play also underscores the different attributes and
disadvantages of being human. Human beings are endowed with
power, splendor, decision, compassion and wisdom. However,
human beings will experience different results depending on
their decisions and choices. Therefore, they must take personal
responsibility for all their actions. Ideally, some human beings
will opt to escape taking blame for their actions. However, it is
impossible to escape moral punishment on this earth.
Interestingly, every human being will face judgment whether

6. they are alive or dead (Orr 49). Heaven will be for those who
lived a virtuous life, and no one with fault will see God. This
play underscores that karma is a natural part of life for both
believers and non-believers. Human beings should be keen in
doing good to achieve good results in the future. The play
underpins the benefits of doing good things without malice and
hidden agendas. It underscores the virtues of purity, simplicity,
and kindness as necessary actions in the world (Orr 55). Ideally,
this is a good read for all ages as it underpins the natural and
simple truths about life. Accordingly, it is a good reminder for
the adults about the world and how justice is served regardless
on power or might.
Abdulla Alsuwaidi
TA 160
Play Death of a Salesman
The death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller has become a
second chosen play to review. According to the tradition of the
playwright in a classical way, Arthur Miller focuses on the
relationship between society and the individual, in the play
Death of a Salesman. Actually, Miller is the highly talented
author of numerous plays. Due to his writing efforts, a majority
of people are able to enjoy the great novel. In particular,
investigations of the author range from the industrialist Keller’s
portrait. As a consequence, Miller’s novels are a kind of
masterpiece. IN addition, most of them are played in the theater
or on the screen. Miller, a viewer of capitalistic society, clearly
emphasizes different materialistic values. Certainly, he is
obsessed with different impressions of important things and also
well-liked by the other people.
In 1949, the play was held impressively on the Broadway for the
first time. The play mixed a realistic style with different
expressionistic techniques. In addition, the Death of a Salesman
really distorts the exact time and space. By contrast, the novel

7. in the movie version involves several adaptations. Firstly, the
novel was filmed in 1951, thanks to László Benedek. Later
versions were the same interesting and engaging. It is highly
important to mention the well-known actors who made a furor
of the movie on the screen. Dustin Hoffman and John
Malkovich have become the most impressive characters playing
the roles in the film Death of a Salesman. Moreover, they have
made the version of the film really outstanding.
The core idea of the novel, represented in a play or the film
version, reflect the reality of the real man. By the way, Miller
wanted to provide a deep analysis of the differences between
the reality and dreams. Therefore, he clearly underlined the
sharpest differences between both conditions. In seems obvious
that the positive and successful illusion may ruin all of the
hopes regarding the light present and also future. That means,
that it is impossible to succeed in the real world, being stuck
with illusion. For instance, the father, presented in the novel as
Willy Loman, was unable to fulfill personal dreams because of
the illusion of the American Dream. In particular, illusions are
very powerful in the life of the person. The novel illustrates that
father’s illusion affected his children and also family, as well.
Viewing the novel Death of a Salesman, the reader may observe
the lack of motivation to move on toward personal goals and
succeed in the future from the father’s side to his children.
By contrast, this character was trying to move them toward
cheating and stealing. The novel Death of a Salesman displays
the clear disharmony between the concept of self and society. In
fact, the novel compares the goal-oriented society with the
illusion of the American father without clear plans. As a result,
the individual with illusion but without real goals cannot be the
main in the family. The main character of the novel, Willy
Loman is the exact embodiment of such type of person.
Possibly, an unhappy childhood of this character might cause
his inability to become a proper father. In particular, Willy’s
behavior seemed like anti-social, as he lived with his unrealized
wishes, becoming more aggressive. The passive-aggressive

8. behavior of the main character indicates the health problems.
Generally, similar symptoms are related to the psychotic
disorder. Moreover, Willy Loman maybe even a victim of
schizophrenia, according to the actions and continual illusions
in his life.
On the other hand, the son of the main character, named Biff,
thought that his father teaches the best. Therefore, he
continually tries to follow him, to learn all of the possible
things from him, despite the illegality of father’s teachings. In
this case, the failure of the main character was a logical
consequence. The continual self-construction of the father even
could not save him from such outcome, impacting the children,
as well. Willy Loman did not see his father in the childhood.
This fact may become quite disappointing in adult life of the
Loman. However, Willy, being uncertain with his hopes and
goals, provoked the same understanding and life realization to
his child, a son Biff. In the progress, Biff has become quite a
meaningfulness of his personal life. Following this point, the
son finally realized that he has been a shipping clerk to his
father for a long time. Moreover, he admitted his blindness to
the ridiculous lie of the father, that took more than fifteen years
of real life.
The play Death of a Salesman views the broad aspect of both
American dream’s success and failure. Furthermore, it
illustrated the comparison between the empty expectations and
also reality. In particular, this play is an impressive
representation of all complicated and truly hard moments that
make it impossible to reach the goal for the average American.
Moreover, the author highlights that American Dream does not
always come true. The novel illustrates the existence of
different exceptions and also rules in the American society. By
the way, the author underscores, that such dream may also
become a kind of additional motivation and aspiration for future
self-development and personal victories. Nevertheless, the
future success excludes wrong dreams, leading to the literal
absurd. The use of the present and past ability to intermingle

9. gives the opportunity to observe the distress as well as the
confusion of the mind of Willy.
In the ending of the Death of a Salesman, the author illustrates
Biff’s change of mind concerning the dream of his father. That
was a clear fail of Willy’s perceptions regarding the successful
future, so that the sun, finally, was able to regret that all of
those dreams were really wrong. Moreover, the failure of all
dreams was underlined several times. All things considered, the
name of the novel, Death of a Salesman, may be compared with
the exact sample of the dream. In addition, Willy Loman along
with all of his family members had an illusion of the future
success based on numerous unrealized dreams and also a big
aspiration for their fulfillment. As a result, it is quite
remarkable to say that some people use to create their own hells
and live there, from time to time. The problem is the lack of
desire and efforts to change the situation to the better one. The
same situation happened to Willy Loman, who was not able to
change something in his life but wanted to end the life up.
Finally, the main character of the novel is a demonstration of
the person, whom the reader should not follow and appreciate.
Abdulla Al Suwaidi
Course TA 160
ODEPIUS
There are two approaches to peruse the account of Oedipus. One
is to state that he is a manikin of destiny, unequipped for doing
anything to change the fate that destiny has in store for him.
Another is to state that the occasions of the play are his blame,
that he has the "blemish" that sets these occasions without
hesitation.
As a making of destiny, Oedipus can't influence the future that
the prophet has anticipated for him. This does in reality appear
to be an imperative message of the story; regardless of what

10. Jocasta says in regards to the instability of prophets, their
forecasts all materialize. While trying to change destiny, both
Jocasta and Oedipus changed the structure of their families,
moving as far away as could reasonably be expected from the
relatives that undermine to demolish them. However in this
manner, they set the course of the story without hesitation. You
can't escape destiny, regardless of what you do. Your dead child
will return to execute his dad. The protected harbor you have
found from your destined guardians ends up being the very field
in which you will slaughter and wed them. As the Chorus says,
"Time sees all;" destiny and the course of time are more intense
than anything an individual can do. Oedipus' terrible end is not
his blame; he is just a pawn in the divine workings of destiny.
Oedipus appears like more than simply a detached player lost in
the scope of time. He appears to commit critical errors or
blunders in judgment (hamartia) that set the occasions of the
story enthusiastically. His pride, visual impairment, and
stupidity all have influence in the disaster that occurs for him.
Oedipus' pride sets everything off; when an inebriated man lets
him know that he is a mongrel, his pride is wounded to the point
that he won't let the subject rest, in the end setting off to the
prophet of Apollo to ask it reality. The prophet's words are the
motivation behind why he leaves Corinth, and in leaving
Corinth and going to Thebes, he satisfies the prophet's
prescience. A less pleased man might not have expected to visit
the prophet, giving him no motivation to leave Corinth in any
case. In the prompt occasions of the play, Oedipus' pride keeps
on being a blemish that prompts to the story's shocking
consummation. He is excessively glad, making it impossible to
consider the expressions of the prophet Teiresias, picking,
rather to depend all alone sleuthing powers. Teiresias cautions
him not to pry into these matters, but rather pride in his
knowledge drives Oedipus to proceed with his inquiry. He
values truth accomplished through logical enquiry over words
and notices from the divine beings; this is the aftereffect of his
overweening pride. Another word for pride that causes one to

11. neglect the divine beings is the Greek word hubris.
Oedipus is additionally absurd and visually impaired. Stupidly
he leaves his home in Corinth without further researching the
prophet's words; all things considered, he goes to the prophet to
inquire as to whether he is his dad's child, then leaves without a
response to this question. Discovering who his actual father is
appears to be imperative for somebody who has recently been
told he will execute his dad. Nor is Oedipus especially clever
about the way he behaves. Despite the fact that he didn't realize
that Laius and Jocasta were his folks, regardless he kills a man
mature enough to be his dad and wed a lady mature enough to
be his mom. One would feel that a man with as aggravating a
prediction over his head as Oedipus would be extremely
watchful about who he wedded or murdered. Aimlessly he seeks
after reality when others caution him not to; despite the fact
that he has officially satisfied the prediction, he doesn't have
any acquaintance with it, and on the off chance that he let
sleeping dogs lie, he could keep on living in euphoric
obliviousness. In any case, rather he unshakably and absurdly
scavenges through his past until he finds the horrendous truth.
Along these lines, Jocasta's demise and his visual deficiency are
his own particular blame.

12. Abdulla Al Suwaidi
TA 160
Into the Woods
“Be careful what you wish for”
“Into the Woods” is an astonishing musical play based on the
book by James Lapine. The music and lyrics for the play were
created by Stephen Sondheim. It should be admitted that
Sodenheim is the winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize he was
awarded for the musical Sunday in the Park with George. The
development of the musical lasted from the summer of 1986 and
in December 1986, the play was a fully staged production at the
Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. The two-week workshop later
was held in New York, in August 1987. The Broadway saw the
play in November 5 1987 that ran for impressive 764
performances.
Due to an interesting and intriguing plot of the play that
narrates a story about the consequences the wishes and quests of
its characters, “Into the Woods” deservedly became one of the
most famous musicals of modern times. The musical has a
distinctive feature that puts it aside from other traditional plays.
The play incorporates several fairy tales written by the Brothers
Grimm and Charles Perrault. As a result, the musical is filled
with unique charismatic characters that are gathered from
different tales in one place. Lapine succeeded to make the
interaction between his characters interesting to observe. The
combination of the main characters from several fairy tails has
allowed Lapine to create a truly unique story with an amazing,
original, and unexpected plot. The following fragment from the
plat demonstrates the aforementioned: “While the BAKER’S
WIFE continues to run away from Rapunzel’s tower, in the
distance she sees a flutter of gold moving through the moonlit
trees. CINDERELLA? She changes course in pursuit” (Lapine).
Therefore, a play worth watching for a wide audience.

13. In addition to a musical play, a story from the books “Into the
Woods” was used as a plot for a movie with some adaptations.
The movie starred a number of famous, talented actors including
Meryl Strip, Emily Blunt, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and one of
the most prominent actors capable of transforming into the most
unexpected roles, Johnny Depp.
As it was mentioned earlier, the decision to gather main
characters from a number of famous fairy tails is extraordinary.
It is easy to hold the view that using heroes from different
stories in one play is a complicated task since the author had to
depict each hero in accordance with the idea developed by the
original creator. Moreover, it is a challenging task to make the
interactions between characters interesting for the audience.
However, Lapine skillfully combined them in a single play
saving the initial portraits of the characters. For instance, the
following excerpt from the play shows Lapine’s talent: “The
WITCH lunges at RAPUNZEL with a pair of SHEARS and
begins to hack off her hair. The girl lets out a mighty shriek” (
Lapine).
The play contains a philosophical idea stating: “Be careful what
you wish for”. Although the idea of this quote is the main topic
of the play, the audience inevitably begins to think of it as if it
related to them. Thus, the viewers are asked to think of the
responsibility for every decision and action they make as the
consequences of their wishes may be devastating. From the
other point of view, the play also raises the question of
sacrifices made for the benefit of others. The idea “Be careful
what you wish for” remains long after the viewers saw the
musical play and generates a number of thought of own
existence, beliefs, and values. Similarly to the magical
characters from fairy tails, people should understand that every
decision should be well thought before making it an action.
Similarly to the famous proverb stating that there is no steam

14. without fire, every action will lead to consequences. The idea
discussed in the paragraph is reflected in the following fragment
from the play:
“PRINCE (CONT'D) DID I ABUSE HER/
OR SHOW HER DISDAIN?/
WHY DOES SHE RUN FROM ME?/
IF I SHOULD LOSE HER,/
HOW SHALL I REGAIN/
THE HEART SHE HAS WON FROM ME? AGONY--!/
BEYOND POWER OF SPEECH./
WHEN THE ONE THING YOU WANT/
IS THE ONLY THING OUT OF YOUR REACH.
R’S
PRINCE HIGH IN HER TOWER,/
SHE SITS BY THE HOUR,/
MAINTAINING HER HAIR./
BLITHE AND BECOMING,/
AND FREQUENTLY HUMMING/
A LIGHTHEARTED AIR:/
“AH-AH-AH-AH-AHAHAH--” AGONY--!/
FAR MORE PAINFUL THAN YOURS,/
WHEN YOU KNOW SHE WOULD GO WITH YOU,/
IF THERE ONLY WERE DOORS.”
People often try to ignore the reality with its unresolved
problems, challenges, and responsibilities. The musical play
under review does not only entertain the audience but
emphasizes to act responsibly always thinking of the
consequences and people who may be affected. In other words,
the play contains an educational component asking viewers to
be responsible in their lives. The dreams people dream have the
ability to come true, and in order not to be dissatisfied with the
consequences it is necessary to think critically about what to
dream of.